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Kishore Vellody, MD

  • Professor of Pediatrics
  • Medical Director, Down syndrome Center of Western PA

Vellody completed his medical degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and his pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and has been on the faculty since 2005. Vellody is a pediatric hospitalist within the Paul C. Gaffney Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. In March 2009, he assumed the role of Medical Director of the Down Syndrome Center of Western Pennsylvania. The Center sees over 600 children and almost 200 adults per year making it one of the busiest clinics in the world that is focused on Down syndrome. Vellody is also the President of the National Down Syndrome Congress and is Co-chair of the Professional Advisory Council. He has spoken at a variety of local, regional, national, and international meetings on pediatric hospital medicine as well as the care of children with Down syndrome.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2000-Present
  • Society of Hospitalist Medicine, 2004-2006
  • National Down Syndrome Congress, 2009-Present
    • Board Member, 2013-Present
    • Chair, Professional Advisory Council, 2013-Present
    • Executive Committee, Vice President, 2015-2017
    • Executive Committee, President, 2017-Present
  • Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group, 2009-Present

Education & Training

  • BS, Microbiology, University of Illinois, 1998
  • MD, University of Illinois, 2002
  • Residency in Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, 2002-2005

Selected Publications

Sharr C, Lavigne J, Elsharkawi IMA, Ozonoff A, Baumer N, Brasington C, Cannon S, Crissman B, Davidson E, Florez JC, Kishnani P, Lombardo A, Lyerly J, McDonough ME, Schwartz A, Berrier KL, Sparks S, Stock-Guild K, Toler TL, Vellody K Voelz L, Skotko BG. Detecting celiac disease in patients with Down syndrome. Am J Med Genet Part A 2016 Dec;170(12):3098–3105. PMID: 27605215.

Lavigne J, Sharr C, Elsharkawi I, Ozonoff A, Baumer N, Brasington C, Cannon S, Crissman B, Davidson E, Florez JC, Kishnani P, Lombardo A, Lyerly J, McDonough ME, Schwartz A, Berrier K, Sparks S, Stock-Guild K, Toler TL, Vellody K, Voelz L, Skotko BG. Thyroid dysfunction in patients with Down syndrome: Results from a multi-institutional registry study. Am J Med Genet Part A 2017 Jun;173(6):1455–1459. PMID: 28332275.

Hart SJ, Zimmerman K, Linardic CM, Cannon S, Pastore A, Patsiogiannis V, Rossi P, Santoro SL, Skotko BG, Torres A, Valentini D, Vellody K, Worley G, Kishnani PS.  Detection of iron deficiency in children with Down syndrome.  Genet Med 2020 Feb; 22(2): 317-325.  PMID: 31417190

Santoro SL, Cannon S, Capone G, Franklin C, Hart SJ, Hobensack V, Kishnani PS, Macklin EA, Manickam K, McCormick A, Nash P, Oreskovic NM, Patsiogiannis V, Steingass K, Torres A, Valentini D, Vellody K, Skotko BG.  Unexplained Regression in Down Syndrome: 35 cases from an International Down Syndrome Database.  Genet Med. 2020 Apr;22(4):767-776. PMID: 31767984 

Mahmoud O, McCoy, J, McCormick, A, Vellody, K, Chi, D.  Repeat tympanostomy tubes in children with Down syndrome. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol.  2021 Sept; 148: Article 110811.  PMID: 34198227

Ryan C, Vellody K, Belazarian L, Rork, J.  Dermatologic Conditions in Down syndrome.  Pediatric Dermatology.  2021 Aug;38 (Suppl. 2): 49-57. PMID: 34418156

Santoro SL, Baumer NT, Cornacchia M, Franklin C, Hart SJ, Haugen K, Hojlo MA, Horick N, Kishnani PS, Krell K, McCormick A, Milliken AL, Oreskovic NM, Pawlowski KG, Sargado S, Torres A, Valentini D, Vellody K, Skotko BG. Unexplained regression in Down syndrome: Management of 51 patients in an international patient database. Am J Med Genet A. 2022 Oct;188(10):3049-3062. Epub 2022 Aug 4. PMID: 35924793.

VanZant JS, Vellody K. Financial impact of a specialized Down syndrome clinic: Implications and support for institutional support of specialty care clinics. Am J Med Genet A. 2023 Mar;191(3):770-775. Epub 2022 Dec 7. PMID: 36478040.

Oreskovic NM, Baumer NT, Di Camillo C, Cornachia M, Franklin C, Hart SJ, Kishnani PS, McCormick A, Milliken AL, Patsiogiannis V, Pawlowski KG, Santoro SL, Sargado S, Scoppola V, Torres A, Valentini D, Vellody K, Villani A, Skotko BG. Cardiometabolic profiles in children and adults with overweight and obesity and down syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2023 Mar;191(3):813-822. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63088. Epub 2022 Dec 20. PMID: 36538912.

Sokoloff A, Dykman M, Sokoloff G, Vellody K, Holland K, Rork J. If my hidradenitis had a voice, this is what it would say: the perspective of a young woman with Down syndrome and hidradenitis suppurativa. Br J Dermatol. 2023 Jul 17;189(2):221-222. doi: 10.1093/bjd/ljad108. PMID: 37035904.

Caldwell AR, Kim Y, Alshahwan N, Vellody K, Bendixen RM, Renz K, Duong T, Dodd J, Terhorst L, Must A. Parental perception of facilitators and barriers to health among young children with down syndrome: a qualitative study. Front Pediatr. 2023  Jul 11;11:1155850. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1155850. PMID: 37497298; 

Academic and Research Interests

  • Down Syndrome
  • Pediatric Hospital Medicine